


Hidden From the Sun

by Teal_Rainbeau



Series: The Village It Takes [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Happy Ending, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hunk (Voltron) is a Good Friend, JuLance Challenge 2019, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Lance (Voltron) is Good With Kids, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, One Shot, Other, Single Parent Lance (Voltron), Supportive Coran (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-26
Updated: 2019-07-26
Packaged: 2020-07-20 03:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19985515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teal_Rainbeau/pseuds/Teal_Rainbeau
Summary: On the eve of his birthday, Lance tries to remain positive for the sake of his daughter, but the grief of being widowed has gotten to him more than he wants to admit.Written for Day 25 (AU Single Parent) ofJuLance 2019





	Hidden From the Sun

“Why do I have to have a checkup?”

“So you’ll stay healthy and strong, baby.”

Lance decided to get the earliest appointment available for the four-year-old hanging on his back like a koala. She was just as disgruntled as he was for waking her up from a dream about some sort of dolphin talking to her and asking if she wanted to come see their underwater house.

“Was the dolphin a girl or a boy?”

“I don’t know, I think it was both.”

“How come?”

She explained in her elaborate little way that the dolphin had a boy’s voice but wore a blue shirt like Lance did, but with a ribbon on its head. As he continued to the first elevator leading to Allura’s office, he _wished_ he could go back to thriving in life by thinking in black and white hues.

Life was rarely like that; it was awash in several shades of gray. But it was nobody’s fault that things did not work out for her mother’s fate last December. That whether by a horrible play of events or some life contract that curtains were called for the woman’s time on Earth. It sucked.

Now that he was Ava’s sole parent, life away from his museum tour guide job became tightly scattered with daycare drop offs, visits to friends of all ages, and the occasional life anecdote played out by Uncle Coran.

Ava was a generally healthy girl, thank God. Lance couldn’t have done too badly in four years of her young life already. Except for the overindulging part.

“How have the sweets been?” Allura tilted her head in pursuit of an answer from Lance.

The girl shrunk, tucking her wide smile behind balled fists and a fit of giggles.

“Okay! I gave her Pop Tarts for breakfast! With chocolate milk.”

Allura deadpanned, then turned to the little girl who surprisingly had not started jittering like a rocket getting ready to take off.

“This is what we’ll do: every day you choose a piece of fruit instead of a gummy bear or skittles, your daddy is going to give you a sticker.” She pulled out a small plastic sheet with a calendar and gave it to Lance to look over. There were rainbows and stars on top, along with a rather toothy rendition of an apple.

Cute idea, yet _another_ thing to manage on his to-do list.

He whispered to the woman, “What if I so happen to forget?”

“Let this be a team effort between you and Ava.” She turned to the girl again, “Every month that you get twenty-five stars, you will get something nice and sparkly. My nurse, Romelle has a treasure box filled with goodies. How does that sound?”

“Is it a diamond? Or a doll with a sparkly dress?” She asked loudly, agitating her waist.

“It will be a surprise. And it’s up to you to remind Daddy to give you a sticker. Also, you have to tell the truth about it or else…”

“Or else what?”

Allura gave the girl a mischievous grin while miming her warning, “Or else the treasure chest is going to get up and run _out_ the window and _to_ the beach!”

“I can chase it! I have traps to get from my room!” she asserted.

Lance and the good doctor laughed.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

“Papí! Are you gonna play with me?”

“Not now, _cielita._ ”

While the girl climbed slides and traversed through ladders and other whimsical structures, Lance sunk back limply on the bench, wishing that he could at least get a glimpse of blue behind the thick patches of charcoal gray.

He puffed a steam of melancholy from his nose, feeling just as much as almost-thirty as he did on his last birthday. Tomorrow he would be exactly 365 days closer to that looming number.

Widowed in his late 20s.

“ _Psst._ Lance!”

He jumped at the blur of ginger in his briefly distorted sight. Coran sure had a way of making his presence known.

“You seem like you could use as much nap time as that little sunshine running around.”

“I’ll be alright. Played catch-up at work yesterday just so I could have her full attention.”

Coran waited until Lance was facing him before sobering his gaze, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I miss her a lot, but I’m okay. I have work and my friends…” As the girl found a small group of her flock to play hide and seek with her, a strong wave of maternal and paternal affection overcame him, “She’s my whole world, Coran, and I’m gonna raise her to know she’ll always have everything she’ll ever need, even without her mom being here.”

It was easier as long as Ava was happy. And she was. Happy, healthy, and thriving. She made friends easily wherever she went, outgoing and outspoken like her old man.

“Hi, Coran!” Ava ran to the older man, nearly stumbling on a small sand pit.

The two did a secret handshake involving a fist bump mixed with thumb war and jazz hands or whatever. Blink and you would miss it. The girl bragged about her doctor’s appointment; the stickers, the treasure box.

“I got a big collection of sea shells that you’ll love, little one.”

“Like that big one the hermit crab had with all the pretty designs?”

“Why, that was his home! But he moved underwater and got a bigger house, right in between the dolphins and the seahorses.”

“Oh my God! Just like my dream!” She bounced in astonishment.

“They would love to have you in their world, you’d make the most delightful guest-” Coran’s kind smile faded to one of quiet intrigue. “Kinda overcast. Looks like it could rain for a spell.” He said. He and Ava looked up to the sky, and Coran cupped his ears open, “Listen closely and you can hear the angels hum.”

“Yep, we’re probably going home early if it does.” Lance drawled with his cheek digging lazily into his fist.

“We should have a party in the rain, on the patio!” Ava smiled.

“A birthday rain dance, sounds out of this world!” Coran winked.

“Nope. Not letting you or me get sick as snails! Go play for five more minutes, okay?”

With a faint reply, she ran off to play with the tic-tac-toe structure.

“Are you ever gonna hit the waves again, my boy?”

He had three surfboards, including the one he would use all the time to rule that ocean. Since the beginning of this year, thinking about indulging in his favorite hobby was comparable to electric shock for disobeying some unspoken rule of the Universe. Don’t go on living without the one who made your life something special in the first place.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

“Papí, what are you gonna eat?” She asked with her tiny nose and palms pressed against the glass display of ice creams and yogurts.

“I’m fine. I’ll have something later when I’m really hungry.”

“How hungry?”

“Until it _pokes_ at me!” He dug a few fingers playfully at the girl’s stomach as she laughed with shrill giggles.

“Thought I heard a little voice in here.”

“Hi, Uncle Hunk!”

“Hey, you guys. It’s getting a little bit hotter out there, huh?”

“Yeah, starting to heat up like a monkey’s…yeah it’s getting there.” Lance thanked himself for being all PG that time.

Hunk whispered that no matter what, it was on the house. “You holding up alright?”

“Better than I was in the beginning of this year. I swear, this whole calendar year needs to end.”

“I know.”

Hunk patted him on the shoulder, then returned to Ava with a smile. “Sooo…figure out what you want yet?”

“Yeah!” The girl bounced happily until her hand grew limp in her father’s, voice smushed, “But Allura said no sweets, or I won’t get my surprise.”

“Well, we got freshly made sorbet. I do this magical process where I turn fruit into ice cream. No added sugars.”

“Cool!”

The little lady decided on a large bowl medley of raspberry sorbet with frozen blueberries and sprinkles of pineapples on top.

“This tastes just like ice cream! Try some, _papí._ ”

He sighed and took a small spoon of his daughter’s sorbet, which he admitted was to die for. He just couldn’t bring himself to enjoy a full serving of food like he used to these days. But he would try for her.

“Can I have some more?” Lance used his rendition of the charmed pout that Ava would use on him.

“You’re funny!”

“Hey, stranger! Long time no see, hear, or speak.” Pidge wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him tighter than he expected.

“Yeah, I know! But your schedule’s let up, right?” The young woman had since used her M.A. in computer science to lead a group of workers in her field at a new corporation for those who wanted to initiate their own start-ups.

“I think all that sleep I missed out on is starting to come back slowly but surely. Except for today, our air’s busted and that’s probably why Hunk left for work without me.” She narrowed her eyes at Hunk while removing her glasses.

“You weren’t complaining about that yesterday.”

“That was until I opened my window and got a face full of sauna **today**!” She softened once she saw Ava, “Hey, sweetie. Whatcha got?”

“It’s a _sorbet_.” She pronounced the word like a new magic spell she just learned.

Lance shrugged, “I took Ava to the beach playground and it felt pretty decent.”

Pidge commented that she would have to sit really close to the water to experience the sea breeze and went behind the counter to get herself prepared.

“Are her glasses real?”

“She doesn’t need them to see.” Lance answered before leaning into his arms. “ _Papí_ needs a nap, like, really badly.”

“Birthday boy, you’re gonna hang out with us again. So don’t even try to stay in bed or turn it to some Saturday morning cartoon montage.” Pidge teased.

“Ava likes that stuff, right Ava? What color is Sonic?”

“He’s _blue_ and very, very, verrry fast!” She cheered with a wave of her color-changing spoon.

The two of them conspired out loud with Lance still resting his head. Somehow, they managed to bring his daughter into it, scheming over bringing him pizza or taking him to the beach to have a volleyball tournament or a bonfire barbecue.

“Guys! I don’t really feel up to all that this year. Might need some quiet TLC to give myself a spa day or something.”

Pidge and Hunk looked at each other, trying not to let their obvious pity seep out between pursed lips and raised eyebrows.

Hunk spoke: “No worries, man. We’ll just have to roll a giant bath bomb to your house or something. Makes a good bodyguard at night.

Lance huffed a sardonic “ha”. If only he had the spirit to indulge in such a laugh.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

“Do we _have_ to go home now?

“Yes, _chiquita_.” For _her_ sake, they had to because his bubble of depression threatened to pop again. She did not deserve to be a recipient of all that.

On the corner next to the supermarket was a familiar figure leaning against a motorcycle while dressed in a red tank top and wearing black joggers with zippers on the side.

“There’s Uncle Keith!” she yelled out of the window with hyper waves of her chubby little hands.

Lance would have to call him sometime this year, along with everybody else.

“I think he wants us to go see him.”

“Not today, I’m really ti-“

“ _Papí_!” she bellowed.

With a burrowed gruff he switched lanes to the right and turned into the supermarket parking lot.

“Just hanging out, huh?” he yelled and swiped a parking space right next to where his stationary friend was standing.

Keith folded his arms with his eyes creased. “Battery’s dead. Been stranded here for only five minutes, thank God. “

“No roadside assistance?”

“Not if you’re here to have my back.”

Lance was surprised that Keith didn’t start scouring the parking lot for people to jump start his battery already. Patience must have softened him after all these years.

“Let me see if my cables are still in here or in my other car…” He climbed out and opened the trunk.

“How’s your day, sweetheart?” Lance heard him ask Ava.

“Good! Will I ever get to ride on there with you?”

Lance interceded, “Not until she’s sixteen!”

Keith laughed and said, “you heard your _Papí.”_

It was a good thing that Keith was keeping an eye on Ava because she had the tendency to get curious about what was in the front seat or back seat or whatever. One time he left her alone in the front seat while rushing back for his keys and she managed to find his music playlist for the Baby Shark dance. Kids these days were geniuses, and his daughter was exceptional.

As they were charging the vehicle, she asked for permission to play for as long as the two men could see her. There was a tree nearby surrounded by grass, and of course while they were talking, she took it upon herself to attempt a climb on one of the thick branches.

“AVA!”

With an upturned lip and a half-playfully pointed “I see you” gesture, Lance glared until the girl stopped with a smile so precious that he could no longer take his own indignation seriously.

“Wonder where she gets it from…” Keith smirked.

“Sometimes I really believe her mom and I created a little monster.” Lance rolled his eyes lightly.

“Does she ask about her a lot?” 

“Yeah. But she understands where she is.”

He had a long talk with Ava, a month after the funeral. He chose to tell her the truth, but in a way that a four-year-old could understand without taking away from the complex nature of life and death. So, he told her that she moved to a neighborhood in the sky, where the angels lived. That she was only meant to have her time on earth in a body for a little while. And that she could now watch over her and talk to her whenever she wanted, like a very special imaginary friend, except real.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

_“Why did the world look sad today?”_

Lance perked up, trying not to settle in the rocking-chair across from her bed like the sleeping giant that he wished he weren’t. All they did for the remainder of the day was watch cartoons until Ava fell asleep on his arm.

According to the girl, heaven was hard to see from the window of their living room patio, but the angels weren’t. For Lance, it was so opaque that the lights glimmering on the street dimmed like fireflies in a jungle fog.

“Maybe because it misses the sun.” He admitted sadly.

Lance created everything in his mind that a good father should have; a space for his daughter to rest, to ask questions, and to thrive despite the emptiness of the world out there. At the end of the day, her bed cradled her just as it did when it was a crib four years ago.

“Sleepy already?”

“I had fun today, _papí_. Did you have fun?” she asked through a veiled yawn.

“Yeah…” 

As she fell asleep with her mouth agape, he kissed her forehead and whispered good night to her.

The child looked like porcelain beautifully airbrushed in a shade of russet as she slept. Her doll-like features rested with an undercurrent of life brimming even as she slept. The lamp resting on her nightstand rotated and danced with shapes of stars geometric and speck-like creating a pale medley on the ceiling and walls.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

Back in his own room, he questioned why his own mortality felt so strangely terrifying. It wasn’t like he was old, but he felt like a lot of his life had already happened so quickly. College, two jobs, a brief stint of graduate school…being widowed before thirty.

It was months ago that his own daughter called 911 on her unresponsive mother. He was at work when he received the news to go to the hospital immediately, and he must have _teleported_ straight in front of Adam and Shiro with Ava sobbing between them.

He really didn’t feel like replaying the memory reel of his life again, so he stopped himself.

“ _Listen closely and you can hear the angels hum.”_ Coran’s words.

Some childlike part of him wandered to his balcony and looked up at the obscurity of life itself in those summer clouds. While willing every fiber of his being to still themselves his body obeyed as if listening for something on a primitive level. Peace found him, nothing else did for the next several minutes or so.

But words spoken as pure feeling or ESP misted themselves into his heart and he had no choice but to chuckle and sob all at once.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

Lance jolted awake. Not from a bad dream or another visit from his late wife…but from a pair of size threes hopping up and down in his bed like a trampoline.

“Happy Birthday!”

“ _Madre de Díos…”_ he rubbed his twenty-nine-year-old eyes and snatched the girl playfully, swinging her around as she cackled gleefully.

“Guess what? I’m gonna spoil you!” she squished his face with her baby hands.

“Having you as my _niñita_ is good enough for me.”

After looking at the dial to see nine o clock, he prayed that she was well behaved enough during that time to let him sleep in.

After last night, he was ready to finally lighten up and remember that just because his beloved was dead, it did not mean she was gone. She was still taking care of them. It was time for him to remember what he told Ava about the cycle of life and take his own good advice.

“ _Papí_!”

With his parent senses tingling, he ran out onto the balcony praying that the girl didn’t slip and fall. Or find another hornet or June Bug flying around.

But she was there bouncing around barefoot, wearing her purple dolphin-printed jumper and holding her palm open in welcome of the thick percussion of water.

He leaned over and whispered for her to get her sandals and umbrella. After obeying, they were happily on their way to the car.

“Did you get the key?”

“Yes, baby.”

With a sudden smirk, Lance tossed his own umbrella aside and allowed the rain to cascade him gently. His joggers and dark blue T-shirt stuck refreshingly to his skin. Each droplet hitting the floor was music to his soul.

“What are you doing, Papí?!”

“I’m having a rain dance party! Wanna join me?!”

With a wide smile, the girl jumped into her father’s arms as he playfully waltzed with her, both now drenched in the torrent.

.* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .* .*.

He went to visit Pidge and Hunk at the restaurant and pouted upon noticing a sign that read “Closed for private event.” It was creepy that he could not see anything save for more darkness inside.

When Ava worked her secret Coran handshake on the side of the door, he worried about the mental capacity of his child for just a moment until Pidge came rushing to the door wearing a green peasant top with dark wash skinny jeans and flats.

She rushed them inside and gasped when she saw both father and daughter. The three formed a hand-linked chain through labyrinths of tables and other objects that might set him off if he were to hit his shin.

“Why’s it so dark in here?” Lance whined.

“You guys are soaked!” Pidge wailed.

“Papí and I danced in the rain! It was _lit_!” 

“Okay, so tell me, Pidge: Is the restaurant having some kind of escape room event happening or something?!”

“We have something scheduled at ten. But please take these towels and dry off, can’t have _her_ catching a cold…”

“How is she gonna catch cold when it’s _warm_ outside?!” he called after her.

Not even two minutes later she came back with Hunk dressed down in jeans and a yellow thigh-length shirt.

“Sorry, guys we had to work outside because of that happy sign posted out front.” He glanced at Ava who glanced at Pidge, then flashed a trio of smiles back at Lance.

After finally following them out the backway, Lance nearly leapt out of his skin when the whirlwind of the word “Surprise” hit him all at once.

Allura, Romelle, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Shiro, Adam, and Matt. With his friends here on a glass-enclosed patio set up with flowers and yummy brunch favorites, all that was missing was the music.

“Okay, how are you guys so sneaky?!”

“Your daughter called the restaurant at seven in the morning and begged me to throw something together for her daddy.” Hunk grinned sheepishly.

“ **Whose** daughter?!”

“ _Your_ little bambina.” Pidge mentioned.

“Wait, I _never_ taught her how to use a cell phone, except to call 911…”

Hunk asked her to spell his name, which she did without missing a beat. Then Lance demanded she show him exactly what steps she took to call him. He nearly fainted with his mouth hung open as Hunk’s number rang, igniting the shocks of everyone else’s laughter.

“Oh, nonononono!” With an impishly subtle smile, Ava gave him back his phone.

Screw enrolling her into preschool. There had to be _charter schools_ for mentally gifted kids her age…

“Let’s have the birthday boy make a wish!” Keith insisted.

“Yeah, bring on the cake! And maybe a _smidge_ of wine.” After all, Ava was the only child there…

After being serenaded in _Happy Birthday_ , Lance took a longer time than last year pondering his wishes and deepest hopes.

_Please heal my heart of all anguish and sadness_

_May I fall in love when I’m ready **and not a minute** before._

_And I hope my daughter uses her intelligence for good, and not to shrink the moon or something devious like that…_

He blew out the one fat candle on his cake, watching the smoke billow to fanfare.

* * *


End file.
